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Album of the Week: Human Kindness by Willy Porter

willyporter.bandcamp.com

Such a large amount of the music, in any genre, has become so strictly defined and crafted that it has become diluted to the point of sameness. This makes it all the more refreshing to have artists like Willy Porter who can’t be pigeonholed. Porter, a Milwaukee native has had an incredibly enduring music career; spanning over two decades in length. Unquestionably talented, with powerful vocals and masterful guitar work, it’s a wonder as to why he has remained something of a ‘hidden gem’.

His work ethic and talent are personified by his diverse group of  “supPorters” from all over the world and his extensive discography that already has more albums than many artists can put out in a career. His newest offering is, ‘Human Kindness’. Released in the final quarter of 2014, the album is one of his most fully-realized musical journeys to date.

Porter says that the album symbolizes “a photo album of my journey over the past few years.” The material covers everything from love found and lost, to perseverance and ambition; everything that Porter finds great about being human is explored on this record. As most independent artists can relate to, the promotion of the work is often times more difficult than actually creating it. With this release, Willy Porter took to kickstarter’s website for some help. He put a goal of $30,000 a biography, an album description and let the fans do the rest. The website allows anyone, anywhere to donate and put money down to help support the creation and release of whatever project they choose, often times earning rewards for donating certain benchmark amounts.

Credit willyporter.com
Willy Porter

By the end of the campaign, Porter and his team raised more than double the initial $30,000 goal. The massive fan-support for this release is what allowed Porter to release his most personal, complete body of work so far, and do it exactly the way he wanted to. 

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